The long night
by Zitsch
Summary: One evening Hermione Granger is waiting at Molly Weasleys front door, seeking help. But the two women are far from being good friends and the war is steadily approaching. The biggest enemy for this long night are thus their own wishes and beliefs, their hopes and their expectations. Can Hermione finally become a true part of the Weasley family?


Disclaimer: "Harry Potter" belongs to J.K.R.

**The long night**

In the dim lit hall of her family home, which was crammed to the brink like the rest of the house, Molly Weasley, a witch nearing her fifties, crossed the old purple rug of her great grandmother. It was deciphering scenes of love and marriage and had been given to her when she jumped seventeen. Then she thought it the most useless jumping gift that had ever been given to her. But a year later she had fallen in love with a young man called Arthur and having married him in a secret ceremony it could not have been more priceless to her. Now it lay in the entrance hall as symbol and as warning to all who came upon her home.

That particular evening she had been enjoying the quietude of a house empty of her seven children when the doorcharm rang. A visitor had arrived! When she crossed the hall and her revered heirloom to open her door, the pale face of Hermione Granger awaited her. Framed by the light of dusk the black shadows falling onto the hills and plains of her face lay eerily still. Without a word she stepped aside and the girl moved past her. Molly looked to the dark line of trees on the edge of her lawn as if she were searching for something, but then closed the door behind her to turn towards her guest. She was a tall girl with long limbs, but Molly had never quite realized how tall. In her small, crammed parlor and almost two heads taller than Molly she looked quiet out of place. Molly led her guest into the kitchen, motioned her to sit at the grand and polished Weasley family table and turned to prepare the tea by hand to leave Hermione a little bit more time. Molly considered the girl, while she waited for her to state her business.

Her youngest son Ron had brought her home for the holidays a summer ago together with his best friend Harry Potter and like them the girl must have been around sixteen now. But while Harry soon grew to be part of the family, the relationship between Molly and Hermione had always been more distant than the ones Molly had to the other friends of her children. This was because even though Molly herself had been a bright and studious girl she was wary of Hermiones premature intelligence and intellect and even envied her secretly for it. But it was an envy softened by years of age difference and live experience and she would have overcome it easily had Hermione been in need of motherly affection. But that had not been the case. The self-centered coldness and arrogance of her manner and views had often disappointed and even angered Molly and she considered Hermione to lack basic abilities when it came to dealing with emotions and people. Now she was more than a little curious about what had put the girl in such a state of emotional distress.

With a dull thump she set the teapot onto the blank wood of the table and turned again to fetch them two teacups, when Hermione spoke, who till then hadn´t moved a limb.

´I…I…I´m at a loss.´ she stammered and the corners of her mouth twitched like she was in pain. She had folded herself into one of the chairs, her shoulders and her mouth tense and one hand moving unerringly as it lay on the tabletop.

Now she looked for the first time since she arrived at Molly, who had turned to regard her, and the older woman swallowed hard and leaned closer, still standing, over one of the kitchen chairs. Outside the cicadas had stopped their singing.

`Yes... dear? ` Molly whispered and an odd chill moved through the room and made her shiver.

`I have to know if...`, she began and then began anew `l... I met him this summer at the piers. I was only walking by wanting to reach the market beyond. I noticed him, his very tall and very thin frame, I do not know why, stacking boxes and occasionally directing incoming boats. His hair was very bright in the sun. The next day I returned because the weather was good to look at the sea. But instead I sat in a café and watched him from my seat. I returned each day after that for a week until the weather worsened and I couldn´t fool myself anymore. I didn´t know what was happening and why I did what I did. It angered me infinitely and I was disgusted with myself and the situation beyond belief. I sat in the café anyway to watch him.

One afternoon he waved at me and I just snapped. I insulted him horribly and demanded to know what he thought he was doing always working right in front of my nose and making me notice him. He did the most curious thing then. He looked at me and didn´t say a word. Just looked at me with the slightest smile on his lips. I noticed his lips. And then he took my hand and I just went with him. We walked together."

On the girls face, Molly noticed, there was a bewildered and perhaps a little bit disgusted expression. Apart from that she hadn´t raised her voice and sat as still as a statue. It was highly at odds with her choice of words. Silently the girl grated on: `I don´t know how to say this, but I don´t think he is particularly intelligent or educated, it´s a bit embarrassing. I thought I couldn´t stand uneducated people with their opinions and bearing, but he...As long as it´s him I just simply don´t care...` After a short drawing of breath Hermione continued

`Everything about him is ´very´, he´s very tall and very thin, very quiet and very sure...He´s...very warm too. And a very good listener. I can talk and talk and talk and he sums it up in one, essential sentence. `

Molly having relaxed a bit at this unassuming topic, fetched the still missing teacups and sat down opposite from Hermione. She poured them both a cup then asked `And what exactly, my dear, is the problem? `

The girl looked at her, a sharp, hard turn of her head. `What exactly the problem is? It´s more than obvious what the problem is! `

At her condescending tone Molly´s fingers tightened on the edge of the table and with a strained smile she said `No, to me it isn´t. `

And this kind of behavior was exactly what angered Molly about Hermione Granger. First she came knocking at her door, not even bothering with a greeting, then began talking in endless monologues when one sentence would have been enough and at the end she still demanded that one understood everything she was talking about. While Molly understood that some people were just awkward, here she remembers getting to know Severus Snape, she didn´t understood this plain, attention-seeking rudeness. It was as if the girl expected a reward for it.

Molly repeated her words `It is not obvious to me, but I´m sure you can explain. `

`Yes. Of course. Well. It´s just... What do I do now? `

Molly didn´t answer, then she said dryly: `Dear... you simply enjoy your time with your new boyfriend. `

At that an expression crossed the girl's face that was more than just horrified. Her pinched eyes opened wide to release their darkness and Molly realized that they were almost black. Her mouth fell open to hollow her cheeks and a breath escaped it that doubled her over.

Weakly she whispered: `Boy...friend? ` The darkening light of the approaching night had finally settled into the kitchen. Molly pressed her lips tightly together. She would have laughed at the girl had she not been so pathetic. As it was Molly summoned a candle into the space between them and lit it with a flick of her wand.

`Yes. Boyfriend. ` Molly said sharply ´or do you not love the young man? `

`Love? ´

`Yes, what else? `

`No. `

`No? ` Molly asked disbelieving. The girl however ignored her, swiftly moved to stand and began pacing. She bit her thumb hard and blood trickled down to the floor. Quietly she muttered to herself:

`Gods, no. This cannot be. It cannot be. ` And she turned to pace the same length of the floor again. Her steps sounded very loud in the quietude of the house. Molly in the meantime watched her from her seat. What should she make of this? Because of the girls apparent cluelessness Molly had expected her to be somewhat disbelieving at first, but then she had imagined the first shock to fade into giddy happiness as it was common in young girls and boys. This graveness and fear on the other hand...

`Why is that a problem? ` Molly asked loudly.

The girl looked at her. Again the sharp, hard turn of her head. Like a predator, Molly thought instantly. But all expression on the girls face had shut down completely and she sneered haughtily, `It is not. It is not a problem. I love him. That is not a problem. ` And with that she sat down again. Mulish, angry and closed off. Molly would have laughed, because Hermione´s behavior reminded her of the time Bill didn´t want to admit that he was an exceptional cook and liked to be one, but as all teenagers went laughing at them was _not_ a good idea. Furthermore Molly considered the situation to be quite oddly delicate...

Silence came over the pair then as it had grown dark around them and the sound of the cicadas died down completely. Only the candle burned between them and illuminated their faces and the small circle in which the women sat. Molly looked at the burning flame of the candle and then again at the bitter face of the girl. Absently her fingers tapped a rhythm on the old wood of the table. Then she stopped abruptly and first turned her head to one side, then to the other, thinking and listening to their soft breathing and the sound of the night. Suddenly she looked sharply at Hermione and indeed there still was great tension in the way she sat.

`But that is not it? ` Molly asked and another chill moved through the room stronger and stranger than the last. This was enough proof for Molly. It would be of no use to try and safe herself now. Forward it was.

Hermione had begun breathing agitatedly and was staring intently at Molly, who still leaned forward cautiously.

` Is it? ` She asked again.

With a last shuddering exhale the girl, seeming to no longer be able to contain her agitation, sprang to her feet. The room darkened at once.

`No` she hissed and from the darkness where the light of the candle could not touch her she looked down at Molly with angry, unearthly eyes. Molly could not control her cry of surprise and she moved from her stool to bring it between them. In her flight she had upturned the candle and with a clatter it fell to the floor. Hermione´s eyes glowed even brighter in the resulting darkness.

`No.´ the girl hissed again ´that is not all! ` And then everything poured out of her and it was better and worse than anything Molly had expected. `Look into my eyes! What do you see? Tell, me! What do you see? `

`They are...very dark. ` Molly whispered.

`Yes. ` The girl spat. `I have seen. And I will _never _be able to make it undone. _And what exactly is the problem, my dear?_ I will tell you what the problem is! ` A drop of spittle landed on Molly´s cheek. `If I want to protect him or anybody else I´ll have to protect him from _myself_. I am not stupid. I am not emotionless or crippled. I know by now that I cannot cut myself from them or from anybody. I just thought all the time that it was better that way to not even try to have friends because everybody I had ever cared about ridiculed me for even trying. It was the worst kind of loneliness. But then I turned into this thing just when I was beginning to understand` she carelessly threw her arms into an all encompassing gesture `everything that is worthwhile in this world. And now I am forced into being distant, cannot act on my inclination, do not dare to act on it, because I simply hunger for...´ The girl began to pant. Fueled by her anger she had stepped closer and closer to Molly who had stood terrified of what this girl had endured and what she would endure for the rest of her life. When the girl came close enough to touch her expression grew to encompass great enjoyment and at the same time unquenchable longing. `Yours too` she added like an afterthought and looked with strange eyes at Molly, who still hadn´t moved.

The older woman knew that if the girl had been less steadfast and brave her throat would be bleeding right in that moment. As it was she didn´t recognize Hermione Granger any longer. The cold distance had gone and for the first time Molly thought her real and living and breathing, full of fire and fury. She noticed the girl's breasts and hips and blazing eyes. Molly could feel her breath on her cheek.

On another level of her mind however Molly believed to recognize what made Turned Ones truly feared by humans. It was their strangeness, their being the Others, who had seen a glimpse of what lay beyond. No human could have withstood that and live to tell the tale. So what humans feared in them was the presence of death. Turned Ones were a reminder of humanities own mortality. Did that mean then that Turned Ones could not live with humans in companionship, could not be integrated into human society? Molly began to greatly pity the girl, because of these two revelations. Along with her natural inclination towards having difficulty in social situations she was now irrevocably doomed to a life of alienation from her friends, her family and her love. It was a truly miserable situation. But on the other hand...This girl had undergone an incredible transformation; emotionally stunted as she had been she had also fallen in love to let it change her so irreparably from the human being she had been that she was almost not recognizable. There was now a fire in her that never had been there before, an anger and a despair that sprang from a sense of honor and duty, that was fierce and strong. This girl was finally alive. For Molly this was a greatly pleasing turn of events, because for one thing the girl had been humbled and for the other she would if this positive change could be enhanced soon be able to use her abilities to their full potential in the war. Molly was ruthless in this. The more help they got the better for her family and even an enraged Turned One would not stop her. If it was for her family Molly feared nothing and thus her decision was clear. There was only one thing troubling her now...

Smiling quietly she finally asked `Have you had nourishment since your turning? `

The girl looked at her in surprise.

`Well? ` Molly asked and briskly moved around the shell-shocked girl to pick up her wand from the table.

´Apparently not` the older woman murmured and slashed her wrist to let the blood fall into one of the teacups. Hermione inhaled sharply and soon she began shaking with the effort to control herself.

Molly in the meantime had calmly closed her wound again and lighted the candle. She had known from the very beginning that something was seriously wrong. Her uneasiness at the door, the unnatural shadows, the eerie absence of tears. What exactly had been wrong had of course eluded her. Nonetheless Molly would never have thought that Hermione Granger would have been turned. Wizard turning was almost unheard of and very rare. This of course changed nothing of the actual fact.

She turned to look pensively at Hermione, who had not moved an inch. `Drink it` Molly said and pointed at the teacup with her blood.

`No`

`Drink` she thundered and for a short moment the flame of the candle flickered. But then Hermione turned and grabbed the cup to drink. Molly let out a baited breath and waited for the girl to finish. She had half anticipated her earlier wrath.

`Come with me` Molly said suddenly surprising even herself and she moved to stand in the doorway. There was something she wanted to try to give this ship a ne direction in an apparently stormy sea. `Come, I have something to show to you. ` she repeated and so Hermione followed the older woman to the entrance hall. Molly had moved to stand at the end of her purple family heirloom, her back facing the door. She pointed at the rug and said `This was given to me by my great-grandmother as a jumping gift. `

`Jumping gift? `The girl asked dumbfounded. Molly had forgotten that she was muggleborn.

`For my seventeenth birthday ´ the older woman clarified. `I hold it very dear. Look at the stitching in the middle. `

`It is a woman...fighting...darkness? ´

`Yes, girl, it is. Listen up. I know that the Turned Ones will eventually be forced to take sides. Free yourself from all allegiances you have with them. Ginny is still too young to take that kind of place, but you are...maturing and in combination with your...intelligence you will make a valuable asset. I want you as an ally and as my lieutenant in the order and beyond that. I am willing to offer you a home, to feed you and to keep your secret, if you in turn are willing to fight in our war on the side of the light. Will you answer to me? ` Molly didn´t smile once, but in spite or even because of the militaristic appeal Hermiones eyes had begun gleaming. She croaked: `You would do that for me? Let me live here...with you and keep my secret? ´

`Yes, ` Molly answered `and gladly. ´

`Then I will do it. I will do everything you say.´ Hermione hovered at the end of the purple rug, looking like she wanted to throw her arms around Molly, but not daring to because she was anxious of frightening the older woman.

Molly smiled then and moved to give Hermione a hug. It was a sign of trust. Until the two women separated an understanding had formed and Molly immediately moved to open the door. Outside the sun was setting in glorious colors of red and pink and gold. It was morning again and the long night had passed. Light bathed the two of them and Molly smiled again.

`Welcome to the Weasley family, Hermione` she stated gravely and quietly holding open the door. Hermione smiled brilliantly in return. Then the older woman pointed outside and said ´Now go, go. I will expect your return soon. ´ And with that the girl vanished into the remaining darkness of the trees.

A second later Molly heard her husband and her seven children clamoring over one of the nearby hills returning from their camping trip. Busy again Molly turned to begin preparing breakfast. As she stood at the hearth and made scrambled eggs Molly realized that she now was a general who not only tried to protect what was dear to her but had acquired a valuable pawn, which was coincidentally also an exceptional human being. Molly hoped to have helped Hermione trough one of the worst of troubles, to have given her the directions she needed to live trough the oncoming storm. This war was long from over and Molly intended to win it.

I hope you enjoyed it! - Zitsch


End file.
